PM assures industry of corruption-free environment

Amid corporate honchos being questioned in connection with 2G scam case by agencies, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured a "nervous industry" that the government is committed to creating a corruption-free environment to ensure the industry moved ahead without fear.

"I am aware of the nervousness in some sections of the corporate sector arising out of some recent unfortunate developments. We stand committed to ensuring that our industry moves ahead with confidence and without fear or apprehensions," Singh said addressing a meeting of the Council on Industry and Trade.

The government is mulling all measures, administrative and legislative, to tackle corruption and better transparency, he said at the meeting which was attended by Ratan Tata, Rahul Bajaj, Azim Premji, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Deepak Parekh, Swati Piramal and Kumarmangalam Birla, among others.

The CBI has recently questioned various industry leaders in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has also called them for questioning on the issue.

In January this year, a group of prominent personalities, including industrialists Azim Premji, Keshub Mahindra and Deepak Parekh, had expressed concern over a series of scams leading to "governance deficit". They had asked the government to deal with burning issues like corruption immediately.

In an 'open letter' addressed to the leaders, they had said: "We are alarmed at the widespread governance deficit almost in every sphere of national activity covering the government, the business and the institutions. Widespread discretionary decision-making have been routinely subjected to extraneous influences.

Singh also assured the industry on continuation of economic reforms. "Whenever I meet representatives from our industry and businesses, the question I am most often asked is whether economic reforms will continue.

"You should have no doubt on this score. The economic reforms of the past have brought us advantageous and I can assure you that we will continue traveling on this path. We might do it gradually and in a manner which builds a consensus for economic and social change," he said.